8 Ways Of Saving Energy In The Agriculture Industry - Our Top Energy Saving Techniques For Your Farm
Now more than ever, it is vital that industries cut back on their energy usage. The government’s latest 10-point plan urges all business, from farming to fashion, to start implementing energy-saving techniques into the workplace so that we can work towards a greener future. This article will show you 8 ways that you can make renewable energy savings in the agriculture industry:
1. Understand Your Current Energy Usage
Before deciding on a strategy for saving energy in agriculture, you need to know exactly how much energy you are using each day. You can find out how much energy your farm uses by taking an energy survey or simply having a look over your energy bills. Knowing how much you use will be helpful for pinpointing a target that you would like to meet after introducing renewable energy-saving techniques.
2. Switch Up Suppliers
Some energy suppliers are more sustainable than others and can have a huge impact on how environmentally friendly your energy usage is. For saving energy in agriculture, you should consider changing to a supplier that uses green energy. Central Power offers services to help you choose the best renewable provider for your agricultural business and have experts on hand to answer any queries that you may have.
3. Insulation
Great insulation could cut your heating bills significantly. The better your insulation, the less heat will be released into the atmosphere and the less time you will have to keep your heating system running. On a farm, you should make sure that all buildings are properly insulated, and that older insulation is replaced to prevent it from being flattened or worn with age.
4. Heating And Hot Water Usage
One of the easiest energy-saving techniques in agriculture is to cut back on heating and hot water usage. Farms need hot water for essential tasks such as cleaning machinery, however, farmers should still try to find areas where they can reduce the amount of heating and hot water that they use.
5. Check Your Lighting
Lighting plays a big contribution to the amount of energy that farms use each year. To make renewable energy savings, you should make sure that all light bulbs across your farm are energy-efficient; LEDs or compact fluorescent lamps (CFLs) are the best choices. You could also make more of an effort to turn lights off when they are not in use or to install motion sensor lighting that automatically turns off when movement is not detected.
6. Ventilation
Ventilation is required on all farms to create ideal living environments for livestock and working environments for staff, however, inefficient ventilation can waste heat and require more heating to be used on the farm. To make renewable energy savings, you could swap to an energy recovery ventilation system that will tightly control your ventilation whilst minimising your energy expenses.
7. Milk Cooling Techniques
Much of the energy usage on a dairy farm will go towards the cooling of milk. You could change traditional cooling methods for heat exchangers or variable speed pumps which could save up to 60% of energy usage on your farm. Heat exchangers work by transferring the heat from fresh milk into another liquid. Pumps can be used to cool the milk by a further 15-20 degrees.
8. Implement Renewable Energy Techniques
The biggest way that farmers can make renewable energy savings is to implement renewable energy sources onto the farm. This way, the farm can still access the amount of power that it needs without tapping into harmful fossil fuels. Solar panels are a popular option that are easy to install, and some farms are now also using wind turbines to generate electricity. Renewable energy saves money and will help to make your farm more environmentally friendly.
At Central Power, we are passionate about helping farmers to save energy and invest in renewable changes. If you have any questions about making energy savings in agriculture, feel free to get in touch today.
